On May 21, 5:18*pm, "basilisk" wrote:
"Hustlin' Hank" wrote in message

...
On May 21, 8:44?am, "basilisk" wrote:



I think the real problem is overcoming the 760,000 pounds of
force to insert the plug.

22 inch pipe at 2000 estimated psi.

basilisk-

I thought the pipe was much smaller, like 4-6". I also think the
outside forces (forces exerted on an object at 6000ft below sea level)
are somewhere around 6K psi. I don't think the pressure inside the
pipe is quite as high as you guess. On another factor is the weight of
the water IF it were contained in a pipe to the surface. Anyway, the
oil is normally PUMPED out of the well because the pressure in the
well is unable to overcome the lift required to bring it to the
surface.

Since it is ruptured, it is flowing out at a minimum pressure and then
surfacing.

That is the way I understand it, but I could be wrong in many ways.

Hank

I got the pipe size and psi from news reports, but TV news reports
aren't noted for their accuracy, who knows?

basilisk

Well a 20 inch plug has an area of around 310 square inches. Pi x R
squared!
The pressure of the oil and gas coming out of the broken well must be
considerable in water of a depth of say 5000 feet. Many times
atmospheric pressure anyway lets say it's only a 1000 pounds per
square inch? (That's way too conservative by the way).

So with a pressure of around 300,000 pounds on the plug it's not the
kind of thing where you hold it in place with one hand while
tightening the expanding bolt with the other hand. All while kneeling
on the basement or kitchen floor!

One would however imagine the much maligned engineers have figured
that out? But it is true that sometimes the best ideas are the
simplest!

Usually the problem with these situations is not only the technology
but the managerial ethics and political will to do the right thing and
spend the money and resources, beforehand, to avoid a problem in the
first place. This spillage should never have happened. But it and BPs
attitude makes one wonder about other wells, and oil industry
practices and procedures!

And, considering regulation! Just look at the countries that are
recovering nicely (Australia, Canada, China, India and others) from
the financial problems caused by the bad credit crisis! It is those
that have tough and enforced 'Banking regulations'!

Same with the oil industry there is too much emphasis on the bottom
line profit and executive bonuses and maybe lobbying? Somewhere along
the line the welfare of everybody else involved, included other users
and residents, immediately in this case, the residents, fishers,
tourist industry employees of those coastal areas get lost in the
scramble.

In the longer term that's all of us; I'm certainly not going anywhere
near Florida, for example, if there are oiled beaches and oil slicks
fouling my boat!